So the news of the day is of course that Yuna chose Peter Oppegard, Michelle Kwan’s brother-in-law as her new coach. Opinions? Well, here’s mine. Feel free to agree or disagree.

So, I’ve seen some comments floating around saying that Yuna definitely downgraded from Brian Orser. On that note, I agree. FSOnline on twitter has been tweeting all about him today and this is what they have to say:

Peter Oppegard is a three time U.S. Pairs Champion with Jill Watson and an 1988 Olympic Bronze Medalist.

Oppegard’s skaters have won 10 national titles. The PSA and USFS has named Oppegard “Choreographer of the Year” and “Coach of the Year”.

First of all, Oppegard is mostly a pairs’ skating coach and while some argue that Yuna will still be good with a not as brilliant coach, I would like to disagree. First of all, Yuna isn’t flawless. She hasn’t landed a loop for a few years, her feet are in serious need of work considering that her arabesque spiral burns the eyes and in general, her feet aren’t turned out. She’s expressive but her edgework can be improved. In other words: Yuna is NOT perfect, even if all the crazy Yunabots thinks she is. In fact, like all people, no skater is perfect and there will always be things that they can improve on. Yuna deserves a coach that can push and motivate her (especially after all this drama) to skate at another level even if she’s already legendary. As well, despite Oppegard’s awards as a pairs’ coach, let’s be serious, they don’t mean very much seeing that the U.S. isn’t exactly a pairs powerhouse like the Russians and Chinese, even if they do produce occasional podium finishers. In any case, winning the U.S. Nationals pairs title means zilch these days.

Yuna could be looking at a pro career soon (not that she really needs it since she’s so loaded) so then, what is the point of competing for another season if you’re not going push the boundaries of the sport and try and be the best that you can be? Come on Yuna, we want to see you shine and improve.

Hmmm… turned out feet are usually most important in certain positions for the layback spins and arabesque spirals. Here’s an example with Sasha Cohen, who’s pretty famous for her perfect feet and positions (she does the most perfect laybacks):
And here is what I’m talking about when I say that Yuna’s not really turned out: